General Formatting

Below is a brief checklist on the most basic formatting guidelines for an MLA works cited page. More specific questions, including author formatting, are described in their respective section.

CHECKLIST // Works Cited Page Formatting

  • Double-spaced line spacing
  • “Works Cited” is centered on the first line of the page
  • Sources are alphabetized by the last name of the first author
  • Each source is hanging indented

Below are instructions for creating hanging indents on Google Docs and Microsoft Word:

Google Docs

  1. On the Google Docs toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen, click “Format.” 
  2. In the dropdown menu, click “Align & indent.”
  3. In the side menu, click “Indentation options.” 
  4. Under the “Special indent category,” click the dropdown menu that starts with “None.” In the menu options, click “Hanging.” 
  5. In the text box on the right, type the value “0.5.” This is the amount of indentation
  6. Click “Apply” and your hanging indent will apply. 

Microsoft Word

  1. On the Microsoft Word home toolbar above your document, click this icon next to the “Paragraph” options. 
  2. Under the “Indentation” category, look for the option that says “Special.” Below it should be a dropdown box with “(none)” as the default option. 
  3. Click the arrow to open the dropdown box, then click “Hanging.” 
  4. Click “OK” and your hanging indent will apply.